New members join A& A tourism board
The National Trust for Scotland’s new Ayrshire and Arran team are enjoying a busy summer.
General Manager Stuart Maxwell, who took up the role with Scotland’s largest conservation charity earlier this year, has now completed recruiting his team of heritage and business specialists.
Together they are playing a key role in caring for some of the treasures of Scotland, including Culzean Castle and Country Park, Brodick Castle, Garden and Country Park and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, as well as Souter Johnnie’s Cottage and the Bachelors’ Club.
Based at Culzean Castle, they are enjoying a busy summer, as Culzean Castle and Brodick Castle both benefit from major investment.
General Manager Stuart Maxwell said: “We’ve got lots going on in Ayrshire and Arran this summer – our newly opened and expanded playpark, The Wild Woodland and Adventure Cove at Culzean is going down very well with younger visitors, we were overrun with pirates for our flagship Pirates of Culzean event last week, and there’s lots of outdoor theatre and rangers’ events too.
“We’ve also enhanced our catering and retail offer and visitors are enjoying our new Aviary Café.
“In the stunning grounds of Brodick Castle, we’ve just opened Isle Be Wild Adventure Playpark – a fantastic play experience, inspired by Arran’s wonderful natural heritage.
This new addition to the island adds another great reason to make a visit to Arran for families for a short break or a day trip from the mainland.”
The team is Sarah Beattie, Curator; she is currently working on a second masters on the history of the Country House with the University of Leicester. Kevin MacGillivary, is Catering and Hospitality Manager. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the catering industry and has won many prestigious awards including Scottish Chef of the Year, Winner of Flavour of Scotland Award, and the Scottish Hotel Chef of the Year.
He has been on the board of the Federation of Chefs Scotland since 1999 and took up the office of President in June 2009. Before joining the Trust, he was the Regional Executive Chef for MacDonald Hotels looking after five of the company’s flag ship properties, The Holyrood Edinburgh, Inchyra Grange, Grangemouth, The Crutherland Hotel in East Kilbride and Houston House Hotel and the Grange Manor.
The Board is joined by Ashley Connolly, Retail Development Manager; Gareth Clingan, Operations Manager, Culzean Castle; Stuart Maxwell, General Manager; Caroline Smith, Operations Manager, Robert Burns Birthplace Museum; Andrea Brown, Business Manager and Tim Keyworth, Gardens and Designed Landscapes Manager who plan to work hard and boost tourism in Ayrshire.